Bits & Bites v23n23

Internet telephony got a big boost in early November when the FCC exempted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling services from state regulation.

Speed Demon

IBM's Blue Gene/L system has been officially crowned the world's fastest supercomputer, after verification of 70.72-teraflop speeds from the TOP500 project, an independent group of university computer scientists.

Almost Toll-Free

Internet telephony got a big boost in early November when the FCC exempted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling services from state regulation. Calls placed on the Net, through flat-fee providers like Vonage, can mean big cost savings compared with other kinds of calling. FCC chairman Michael Powell said the decision would lead to cheaper, better service and more innovation. The exemption from state regulation could also mean that large, local telephone services will start offering VoIP services.

Tuned for Temblors

Using a historical seismic database, a Southern California computerized earthquake-prediction model called Rundle-Tiampo has successfully predicted the locations for 15 of the past 16 local quakes measuring more than 5.0 on the Richter scale.